About

The Spanish Flu

The Spanish Flu was a world wide epidemic that took the lives of an estimated 50 to 100 million lives between 1918 and 1920. It has been recorded as the most devastating outbreak in world history.

The disease first appeared in Fort Riley Kansas on March 11, 1918 when an Army private reported to the camp hospital with complaints of a fever, sore throat and headache. By noon that day the hospital had treated over 100 sick soldiers with similar symptoms and 500 more by the end of that week.

Initially the strain of the virus seemed no different than those of previous years but it quickly became apparent to health officials that this strain was unusual when it began to attack many young adults and healthy individuals. Additionally this influenza outbreak struck hardest in the summer and fall months as opposed to traditional influenza virus' striking in the winter months. As the virus traveled to the eastern states, public health officials in Philadelphia issued a public bulletin, warning citizens about the disease in July of 1918. . It is speculated that the virus was so easily spread world wide due the conditions of World War I. Researchers believe that the close quarters the soldiers lived in combined with their weakened immune systems made them more susceptible to the disease. Furthermore the disease was spread by the soldiers and sailors travel during wartime. The pandemic was coined "The Spanish Flu" because it received greater press attention in Spain because they were not part of the war and had not imposed wartime censorship. Since the United States played an active role in WWI the government wanted the citizens to focus on the war and initially did not warn them of the deadly virus. . "Patterns of Fatality"

This specific influenza virus targeted mostly young healthy individuals and as previously stated struck in the summer and fall months. What was puzzling about this strain of the flu is that people who did exhibit any signs could suddenly develop severe symptoms over a period of just a few hours. Generally a blue tint to the face developed along with coughing up blood due to a severe obstruction occurring in the lungs. Patients would often begin to hemorrhage filling their lungs with blood with would inevitably cause the patient to choke and drown. In faster progressing cases death was typically caused by pneumonia and in slower progressing cases it wasn't uncommon for the individual to develop psychiatric disorders due to neural involvement and later die from malnourishment. Other common symptoms of the virus included: high fevers, chills, coughs, muscle pain, sore throat, fatigue and dyspnea. . "Panicked Communities"

While in many cities less than one third of the population had been affected by the flu other communities were wiped out as a result of the virus. Panic quickly spread among communities and new laws were imposed to prevent the spread of this invisible killer. Pubic gatherings became banned and handshakes were illegal. Funerals for those who had succumbed to the disease were only permitted to last 15 minutes long and many citizens were required to wear face masks while out in public. Many communities even closed all stores and schools. There was a mass shortage of health care workers because of their own ill health and a shortage of grave diggers so many graves were dug by steam shovel and people were buried without coffins or marked graves. . "Global Occurrence"

The global mortality rate is averaged at 2.5-5% of the entire population and an additional 20 % of the population being affected to some extent by the virus. An estimated 17 million people died in India alone which accounted for 5 % of their population. In the United States about 28 % of the population suffered from the disease which claimed the life of about 500,000  675,000 people. An additional 200,000 people in Britain lost their lives to the virus and another 400,000 people in France. Out of all of the Asian countries Japan...

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SpanishFlu
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Table of Contents
Introduction Page 2
What is SpanishFlu and what happened during the pandemic? Page 2
How the situation was handled in 1918 Page 2-3
Impacts from the SpanishFlu Page 3-4
Impacts of mass gathering Page 4-5
Crisis Management Page 5
Additional information that may have arose from research Page 5-6
Recommendations Page 6-7
How the Hospitality sector should act Page 7
Hotel Response Plan Page 8-9
Sample Guest Letter Page 9
Conclusion Page 9
References Page 10-11
Appendices Page 12
Introduction
Spanishflu in the year 1918 was a pandemic crisis that greatly affected everyone worldwide. To this day researchers are still studying the influenza pandemic and are working to counter future pandemics. When the Spanishflu came it created many negative impacts to the daily lives of the citizens and industries. Learning from the past, there are many recommendations that industries should implement in order to counter the spreading of a future oncoming pandemic. Crisis management is important during such a deadly situation and every business should create a plan. This document talks about what is Spanishflu and how should...

...and unseen. These are the tell-tale signs of the pandemic that is known as the “SpanishFlu”.
The influenza virus is a potentially lethal illness that can infect birds as well as humans and other mammals. The virus can evolve rapidly, resulting in new outbreaks of the disease. There are two major categories of the influenza virus: A and B. About 95% of influenza cases are caused by type A. Symptoms of the virus includes fever, sore throat, coughing/sneezing, and muscle aches. The disease also incubates for one to five days after exposure and may be transmitted before symptoms are recognized. Influenza is spread through the air in the form of droplets formed when people cough, talk, or sneeze. Though not usually the cause of death, influenza does tend encourage secondary bacterial infections, like pneumonia, which is often the direct cause of death during flu outbreaks. In rare cases, the virus can also trigger an overreaction of the immune system, kind of like an allergic response, which causes massive damage to the lungs. It is known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and it quickly leads to death. In contrast to common flu victims, who are often very young or old, ARDS occurs most often in relatively young people with strong immune systems. The most devastating occurrence of a mutated influenza virus in history was the 1918-1919 flu pandemic.
The 1918 pandemic of the...

...1, Canada was affected by the many challenges they faced, such as the Spanishflu, the Winnipeg General Strike, and Alcohol prohibition.
Throughout history, disease and epidemic has taken countless lives. After World War 1, soldiers returning home had spread a new flu virus, known as the Spanishflu. The SpanishFlu brought extreme emotional distress to Canada. Many cheerful soldiers returned home stricken with grief to find their family members dying from this disease. The soldiers, as well as other citizens were overwhelmed by the Flu’s disruption in society. Hospitals were flooded with sick victims, streets were quiet, and everyone wore masks. The flu spread rapidly worldwide and far exceeded the death tolls from the war. The SpanishFlu distinguished itself from other influenza strains because it was virulent to young adults in their 20s to 30s. Subsequently, many children became orphaned. The disease also caused many families to struggle financially because they had lost the family’s money provider. The SpanishFlu also transformed Canada’s healthcare system. During the 1920s the government had no specific department to handle health issues. Therefore, the Agriculture department handled quarantine, and the government handled the flu’s media exposure. Eventually as a result of the...

...Abstract
In 1918, the world experienced its most deadly modern pandemic, the H1N1 influenza virus named the SpanishFlu. Killing between 20 and 40 million people worldwide, the pandemic has not since been repeated on such a large scale. This paper provides a background of the 1918 virus and its effects followed by an examination of the danger represented by the H5N1 Avian Flu virus of 1997. Finally, it discusses the potential international economic impact of a modern pandemic like the SpanishFlu, should such a virus materialize again.
Thesis
The post-World War II world can be characterized by unparalleled connectivity and a shrinking of the world’s metaphoric size. In many ways, this has been useful to humanity, promoting growth, understanding, mobility, and, for the most part, prosperity. However, such an environment represents a fertile killing ground for a virus capable of being easily transmitted between humans. Since 1918, the world has not faced a worldwide pandemic on the scale represented by the SpanishFlu; when it does, the economic effects of such virus is unknowable. However, some estimates have been made, although with the world lacking such a megadeath in its recent history, it is possible that these estimates are optimistic.
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During the 1918 year period in America , a majority of people were financially well off and spent most of their time going to the movies, roller skating, dancing, and playing pool. Theater was starting to lose popularity was it was still a good competitor for Hollywood. The celebrities from the black and white silent films were just as popular as current actors and actresses. Having large amounts of people gather together for these activities caused an uproar because it cause the risk of infecting more and more people with the deadly influenza.
Because of World War I, the flu quickly made its way from Europe to the United States. It started spring time in Europe and made its way to America by fall which then caused the pandemic to be worldwide. The American troops were among the first ones to be exposed to this disease. Hospitals all across America were filled with dying soldiers. This flu caused about 43,000 men at war to die. The virus threatened every country that was at war. (2009, Duffy)
No one knows for sure where this deadly pandemic came from but there have been guesses, such as Haskell County, Kansas, Asia, and a British Army post in France. “The American Medical Association sponsored what is generally considered the best of several comprehensive international studies of the pandemic conducted by Dr. Edwin Jordan, editor of The Journal...

...﻿
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The 1918 flu pandemic, otherwise known as SpanishFlu, was an unusually fatal influenza pandemic which struck the lives of many between January 1918-December 1920. It's said to have been recorded as the most devastating outbreak in world history. This influenza received its notorious name from the exceptional number of deaths in Spain, supposedly killing eight million.
This viral epidemic operated very strangely; seeming to target the young and healthy, being particularly deadly to 20 to 35 years olds due to their stronger immune systems. It distributed very quickly around the world, infecting up to 500 million people and killing upwards of five percent of the world's population. It is said that this flu killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years, and more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century.
The victims of the SpanishFlu suffered greatly. Within hours of feeling the first symptoms of extreme fatigue, fever, and headache, victims would start turning blue. In certain cases the blue would become so pronounced that it was difficult to determine a patient's original skin color. Some patients would cough with such force that their abdominal muscles would tear. Blood exited from mouths and noses, a few from their ears, and some vomitting was noted. Many of it's victims died within hours of coming down with their first...

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